Share Tea Miri

Bubble tea shops in Miri are spawning like mushrooms. The next bubble tea shop that I'm gonna blog about is Share Tea! The number one bubble tea in Taipei! Or so their tag line says.

The side view of the counter while the staffs are hard at work, preparing drinks for customers.

Oh look ! Some one is studying here! Hardworking much. ;)

I love the atmosphere as it's very relaxing. You can definitely chill and catch up with friends here when life gets hectic at home or at school.

Tried their signature green milk tea with no pearl. Less sugar, of course. And it taste great! Not too sweet and not too bland. Just the way I like it. 

At the moment, it seems like this bubble tea shop is attracting its fair of customers with endless stream of customers coming in and out while I'm blogging here.

Speaking of which, they do provide free wifi. More of a reason to come here. What better way to spend your day with a cup of bubble tea with a stack of notes and also with your laptop?

They have power points all along the side of the wall. If you're aiming to sit here for the whole day, I would suggest you take the table by the wall. Do bring a sweater. With the cold drink and air-con, it feels a bit chilly.

They are located next to Maybank, the building next to Courts Mammoth.

Their exact address is ...

Lot 2428, Block 5, 

Boulevard Commercial Centre,

Jalna Miri-Pujut,

98000 Miri.

And their business hours are:

Mon-Thurs : 11am-11pm

Fri-Sun : 11am-11.30pm

Drop by if you're free! 

P.s. if you're looking for a job, good news! They are hiring! 

Jas xx

Bo Eight Tea Miri, Sarawak

Friend suggested to go to this bubble tea shop located at Permy after our short lunch date at Hot Point as the shop was closing. Nothing much that I can comment on, so I'm not gonna post anything about that. :)

So ... here we are.

Bo Eight Tea! I've never tried this brand of bubble tea before. But then again, I'm not a big fan of bubble tea and also they all taste the same to me. Hence, you bubble tea fans should definitely drop by to try and let me know. :p

Map!

Here's a map for you guys. Got this when I ask for a name card from them. As I am not quite familiar with this side of town, I find this map particularly helpful.

Moving on ...

According to friend, this shop is opened recently. Thus, the reason for having a lot of flies. Don't see how that make any sense but if they say so .. 

However, they don't have any mosquitoes which I will give them credit for, as I hate mosquitoes! Nor can I see any lizards while I was there.

Anyways, the shop is rather spaceeyyyy which I like as I think that it is a good place to chill with friends.

A picture to show how spacey the place is

For those Curtin students, short breaks doesn't necessarily means that you need to be stuck in the campus library or rush back home. This is the place where you can unwind or even catch up with lecture notes(assuming you don't mind the sound of the blender). I think earphone helps?

Do bring your own laptop/tablet/phone as they offer free wifi. Note the magical word, 'Free WIFI'!

Love the design

I tried their signature milk tea with 'half sugar' which is think is rather okay. :)

The staffs there are really nice and friendly. They are helpful and didn't cause much stir by asking loads of unnecessary questions when I requested for a new straw!

BUT ... there are a few things that I didn't like about the shop.

1. The blender is really too loud! They should opt for something with a cover(like Starbucks) to minimize the sound. I had to raise my voice while talking whenever they start blending stuff! :(

2. The lighting should be reconsidered. It was in the evening when I went, the sun was still rather bright and the store was dim. It was rather uncomfortable. May be they should just enclose the whole store and may be tint the windows? Just my 2 cents. *refer to picture above*

Overall, I think it's a good place to hang out with friends, to catch up and stuff. 

Do give it a chance.

Jas xx

Meritz Hotel International Buffet

I saw a post on instagram about a buffet place in Miri, Sarawak that we think look rather neat and pretty. So, my sister and I decided that we should go try out this buffet place. We are not that good with NEW places to eat in Miri since we have not been in Miri for quite awhile now. I have not been living here for about 5 years, I would say. Jas hasn't been staying here for about a year or two now. So, we are still exploring new places in Miri that we can all eat at!

This place is located in a hotel called Meritz, it is just next(connected) to a shopping mall called Bintang Plaza. It is the one place that Mirian will go hang out/shop for stuff. There have movies theater and other great stuff!

Anyways, it is in level 17 in Meritz Hotel. This is an international buffet

The Grand Old Lady Cafe (level 17)

This is the entrance of the restaurant, can't really get a great picture since it's night and I didn't want to use flash.

night view from where we sit

A view Miri city from where we sat, you can see Dynasty Hotel from here.

friendly waitress and waiter

Personally, I would rate their service at 9/10 as I never even see them clear my table or refill my drink! Their efficiency and group work are excellent!

Cooked buffet food

This is where the cooked food are located, they do serve rice/noodle and other Asian cooked food!

Note: Do go for the fried mussels! *thumbs up*

Salad

You can make your own salad at their salad bar, there are lots of dressing to go with your salad too.

Olives, cucumbers, tomatoes and some other stuff

Smoked salmon with condiment and macaroni

Fancy for a smoked salmon? They have it here too!

Beef and calamari

Prawn, mussels and crabs

This is the main reason that I want to come to this buffet. I love to eat mussels! I like them with lemon. You need to asked the waitress for lemon slices since they don't put them on the counter for you.

Keropok (snacks)

They have prawn keropok and other fried keropok here.

Grill food corner

Uncooked prawn and beef for grilling

Grilled prawn, chicken wings and beef

They have mushroom gravy and black pepper gravy to go with your grilled food.

Sashimi Corner

Bread

They have assorted bread as well. It is located just next to the soup. That night, they offer Pumpkin soup and Hot&Sour soup. Tried the pumpkin soup and it taste great!

After all that food you are going to eat, they do have a variety of desserts to offer!

Fruits

Ice cream corner with toppings

Payasam

 According to the manager, Payasam is a must-try Indian dessert! It's a healthy dessert that is cooked using rock sugar.

Cakes

The cakes served in buffet is always not brilliant due to the varieties that they have.

Some more cakes

Creme Brulee

More cakes

Yogurt Mousse

Cheesecake

This cheesecake is awesome but sad to say that this cake is not included in the buffet. We got this complimentary cheesecake from the manager in this restaurant. We told him that the cakes served in the buffet is not very delicious. We were just commenting it and not complaining!!! I will give this cheesecake a THUMBS UP! I love this cheesecake. This is a must-buy cheesecake off the counter!

The buffet is MYR55++ per adult and MYR27.50++ per child. It is exclusive of 5% service charge and 6% government tax. At the moment, they have promotion for Standard Chartered card holders, with 15% off from their bill! Find a friend who owns Standard Chartered card if you don't have it :)

The buffet is only available on Fridays and Saturdays. So do make time and enjoy the feast!

The address of this restaurant is ...

Lot 1029, Block 9,

Jalan Miri Pujut

98000 Miri, Sarawak

For reservation, do call this number: 085-417888 and ask to be connected to the Grand Old Lady.

p.s. There's one last thing that I almost forget to mention. This place is great to bring your girlfriend/boyfriend out for a date. If you're not up for a buffet, they have the Sky Garden Restaurant just outside with a nice view. Really romantic. ;)

Baba & Siam Cafe

I hear good words about Baba and Siam Cafe so I thought I should go check it out. We came here for lunch. Baba and Siam is located in a tiny town called Miri in Sarawak, Malaysia!

I know this is a bad picture of the shop name (Thank you Jas for taking such a bad picture)

It has a really nice atmosphere for dinner at night. I heard there is candlelight dinner at this place. You can take your date here for some nice thai food. They do serve other food if you are not up to thai food that particular day. They serve western food and other asian food too. Oh! If you are wondering if it's halal or not! Good News! They serve halal food.

The business hours of Baba & Siam Cafe

Lemon Juice (it tastes okay)

Plum Juice

Love the design on the napkin

Pineapple Fried Rice

The pineapple fried rice today seems okay but I am pretty disappointed with it. Of course if you come to Miri and want to have Thai food, it will not taste the same as the one you have in Thailand! The food served in this restaurant has really big portion. I suggest that the food is shared by two.

Tom Yum Kung Soup

 The Tom Yum Kung Soup doesn't come with rice. I am very disappointed with the tom yum soup, it doesn't have much seafood/vegetable in it. It is a rather small bowl of soup but it is okay for the price you are paying.

Ingredient in the soup

 This is the ingredient in the soup, that is all they have in that tom yum kung. It is very little for a big eater like me. If you are only going after the soup and not what is inside, the soup is awesome!!

Rocky Road Dessert

 Finally, our dessert after all that big meal!! Rock Road!! Jas thought this is a cake haha.. It is a chocolate ice cream top with oreo pieces and then a little chocolate Hershey being spread on the ice cream. I wouldn't suggest getting this dessert here since you can probably make them at home yourself.

Monthly Special and Dessert Specials

Our bill!

Oh! Not to forget our bill, the prices in this bill are listed in MYR. The price is not so bad for a Cafe like that but I am expecting better. I might come again another time to try something else. I want to give you the address of this place but apparently the address on the bill is wrong :(

Thai Restaurant in Miri
Next to CETA (Jalan Pujut 7)
Miri, Sarawak 98000

Pretty sure this is the right address, got it from foursquare

p.s. Jas bought lunch xx

Fillgurt - Yogurt ice-cream

Topic of the day : Best yogurt ice cream in town(Miri town, that is)

FILLGURT win hands down! But hey, that's only me. You should give it a try! :)

This store is in at Bintang Megamall or better known as Parkson among Mirians. The location? It's right in front of Big Apple Donut and well, it's a small shopping mall. Don't think you can miss it.

View of the store(taken from their facebook page)

Menu(also from their fb page)

Okay so they might not be the cheapest ice cream store in town, but definitely NOT one of the expensive ones. It's way cheaper than Tutti Frutti!

Variety of toppings(also from fb page)

Personally I love the lychee topping. So I didn't try the others. The lychee topping goes best with the plain flavored yogurt ice cream!

Plain yogurt ice cream with lychee topping <3

Waffle with White chocolate macadamia flavored ice cream

The guy, one of the founders, gave me and my sister a free sample of waffle. He was making one for himself, so yeah, perfect timing! :D
He claimed that the waffle mix comes all the way from the USA and it's the exact one that Haagen Dazs is using. But personally, it's a bit salty compared to the usual waffle that you get for MYR2.

Look out for the waffle as it's the upcoming product that they are considering to sell! According to the guy, they're planning loads of new stuff for the near future! Do keep an eye on it. :)

Oh, I almost forgot. They have this really cute loyalty card for you to keep track of your purchases! It had just arrived recently, or so I was told, when I complained about not getting it during my first purchase.

Loyalty Card

 Snapped a photo of it so that you can see the terms and conditions.

Just started!

Here's how you can reach them:

Unit G83(New Wing)
Ground Floor, Bintang Megamall,
Miri, Sarawak
085-434208

Enjoy your froyo!

Cheerio,
Jas xx

Pulau Pinang Road Trip 2013

I think I forgot to mention that I am from Malaysia? Anyways, after finishing my finals, my cousin and I went for a road trip to Pulau Pinang! We took the midnight train(KTM) from KL Sentral to Butterworth, where my friend pick us up and drove to the island.

Train tix

You can buy the train ticket at KL Sentral. Look for the counter which is nearby KFC. There's a difference in price as it cost MYR34 for the seats, and MYR40 for the bunk bed. I personally suggest the bed as it's rather comfortable and you can be fully rested upon reaching your destination!

On a side note, if you have motion sickness, fear not! The ride is rather stable and I think it's rather ok. However, do take your medication to be on the safe side! Oh, do bring a casing for your spec if you're planning to sleep. I broke my spec cause I accidentally crushed it while sleeping :(

Bunk

Don't know where to slot in my hotel details. So I'll just put it here. I stayed at PPIsland Hotel. You can get the details here. The hotel is clean and comfortable. The room rate is cheaper than the one stated on the website. It's MYR80 per night if not mistaken. I don't know why the rate on the site is not updated. But if they charge cheaper than shown, I have no problem with that :p

Day 1

We arrived at Butterworth at around 06:30 the next day. Friend suggested we take a car ride around the city while the residents are still asleep. And also while waiting for the check-in time for my hotel.

First stop: Gurney Drive

Not the most beautiful beach :x

The oh-so-famous Plaza Gurney Mall

Newly built Gurney Paragon shopping mall

 Next stop: Market place (I forgot where ...)

Snacks

Fresh fuits

Trinkets

Preservation of heritage

Old school parking meter

LOOOOKK!! Recently put up all over Love Lane to promote tourism

Following stop: Oldest Temple in Penang, Kuan Yin Temple!

From the bottom

On the inside

Trinkets sold to tourists on their way to the top

More trinkets

Couldn't find the way to go up, asked for directions and the guy said just a little way up .. Even after I was drenched in sweat, I still couldn't see the Goddess of Mercy. Not so merciful after all? :(

After sweating like a pig on my way up ....

Finally the Goddess of Mercy!

View of the city from the top of the temple

Time for dessert after the climb ... The Famous Penang Road Cendol! 

(sorry no picture of the cendol as I finished it before remembering to take picture ..)

Take note that there are 2 stalls there, both claiming to be famous, BUT only the one on the right side is the authentic one(according to my Penangite friend)

Must-eat Penang Road cendol

Look at the queue!

Bought fried kuey teow while queuing as it smelled so nice! It taste as good as it smells too *thumbs up*

Fried Kuey Teow

2nd last stop of the day: Hard Rock Cafe Penang

Rocking the Liqour Bar

Was planning to eat dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, but some rich dude reserved the whole cafe. There goes my dinner :(

Ordered a drink and chill at the lounge while some dude with a really nice voice entertained us. (and also to wait some of my friends who are busy cam-whoring on the beach)

Final stop of the day: Straits Quay, pronouced as Stretski

Friend had to spell it out to me before I finally understood where we were headed. Beautiful view, but lack of things to buy.

Day 2

Touring the city on my own as my friends went to Escape Theme Park and I didn't wanna go ..

So, my cousin and I went to Lorong Selamat for Friend Kuey Teow for breakfast! This taste as good as the one from the day before. BUT it cost me DOUBLE!!! *rip off*

Thought it's a rather big plate, but the portion is so small! Not worth buying .. (just my two cents)

Aunty, one plate please!

MYR 8 Char Kuay Teow

After breakfast, we walked along the road and reached this but it was close.

Took a cab to the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion or better known as Blue Mansion. The only blue building here, I assume.

Main Entrance of the Blue Mansion

While waiting for the tour to start, we went to The Chocolate Boutique which is just nearby.

Rows and rows of chocolate

Promoting Malaysia

They sell deco as well which is so cute!!

 Despite being a chocolate lover, the trip to The Chocolate Boutique was rather disappointing. I was expecting all sorts of imported chocolate but all I got was Beryl's!

On the side note, they sell some tea and coffee as well. They have free testers! :)

Some homemade ice-cream to cheer me up after the disappointment .. it cost only MYR6!

The ice-cream lady was funny. 

My cousin asked her, 'What is your best seller?'. 

She replied, 'Usually Chinese will order Green Tea flavor'. 

We were like, whuttttt?! 

After the ice-cream episode, we went back to the Blue Mansion. Here's some pictures ..

After the short tour, we were brought to the souvenir shop which is located at the side of the building.

Books, purses, bags, etc

Handmade soap bars

Off we went, after the tour. Next stop, the Rainforest Bakery! On our way there, more street arts!

BAHAHAHHAHA! Shortyy :p

Misused of the term 'budget'

Bakery ~ This is located at Lebuh Chulia. Shop lot 294. It's not too hard to locate.

Had to take picture from the side to avoid taking my own reflection

Menu

Turkey ham with Cranberry sauce bagel

Homey feel. Great place to chill with friends

The buns and bagel from this bakery is delicious! If you have time, do try their Jackfruit with Gula Melaka Yogurt. *thumbs up*

With our tummy replenished, we headed to Little India Street.

Indian clothing store

Somehow we ended up at the Peranakan Museum for another tour of the State's preserved cultural heritage.

Outside view

Inside

First floor

After random exploration of the house, we decided to go to Queensbay Mall. It was difficult to get a cab during peak hours when people finish working. We had to walk for quite some time before managing to get a cab. But it's not all loss, managed to snap some more pictures! :D

Famous landmark for the state: Pinang fruit which the state is named after

Taking our sweet time looking at beautifully preserved buildings

For deco only

 Queensbay!

What a sad excuse for a picture of Penang Bridge at night

 Outside the mall, there're a lot of stalls being set up, selling snacks.

Fried Corn

More snakcs

All-in-one!

 Final stop for day 2 : European Bar & Bistro (or was it Bistro & Bar?)

My first German beer (me likeyyy)

German sausage as snack

Second beer while waiting for a cab

The bar tender help us called for a cab. They were nice and friendly, asking where were we from, making small talks. Me and my cousin burst out laughing when one of the staff asked how was our honeymoon! Could you imagine that. Not too long after that, the cab arrived and we made our way back to the hotel.

Day 3

Like every other day, we went hunting for the breakfast when the sun comes up. For the last day in Penang, we had 'white curry' at the Hot Bowl for breakfast. (yes, you read correctly. The curry is WHITE in color) You can add in the chilli according to your spicy tolerance which I think is a clever idea. The cafe is located along Abu Siti Lane.

Hot Bowl Menu

Speaking of Abu Siti Lane, you can get a refreshing coconut drink at the end of the lane. After a bowl of curry noodles, we stop by Jan's Homemade Cakes bakery.

Assorted food products sold

The cakes aren't the best but it's not the worst either. Wouldn't make it my priority in suggesting places to go in Penang.

After packing and checking out the hotel, we left our luggage in friend's car. He dropped us at Plaza Gurney and went back home to sleep as he went clubbing the night before.

To kill time, we went for a movie .. Fast and Furious 6!

Movie time

Now, where to eat before going for a movie?

Cosy atmosphere

Ordered pizza waffle which was delicious! Will definitely bring my family here if given the chance.

After friend had his beauty sleep, he came back and met up with us. We went for tea time snacks at the stalls just next to Plaza Gurney.

The fried oyster here is the best! *drools*

I think I ate MYR50 worth of fried oysters that day :p

We spent some time exploring the mall and friend dropped us off at the train station.

So, that concludes my 3D2N Penang trip!

I do realise that this post is a little long. Should I post all of it into ONE post or split into a few according to the days? Would appreciate the feedback!

Thanks for taking the time to read. I hope you have a safe trip to Penang! :)

Cheerio,

Jas xx